Craig Elliott and Jon Foster Win Spectrum Gold

The Spectrum 16 winners were announced tonight. Spectrum is a prestigious annual dedicated to the "Fantastic Arts" and is one of the most coveted awards in illustration.


© 2008 Craig Elliott

Craig Elliott won the Gold Medal in Editorial for his Damali Richards painting in the concept art book, Exotic Contraband: L. A. Banks' Vampire Huntress Legend, published by The Devil's Candy Store.

Another Devil's Candy Store artist, Jon Foster, won the Gold Medal for Comic Books.

Congratulations to them both!

L. A. Banks' 12 Tribes Convergence Summit

On February 13-15, in Philadelphia, PA, L. A. Banks and hers fans held a three day celebration of the Vampire Huntress Legend novel series. Leslie's 12th book in the series, The Thirteenth, was released and it was a party all weekend. The Devil's Candy Store played a part by sponsoring the Madame Isis sword essay contest. On Saturday night, we gave away a custom-made, Tony Swatton sword to Portia Adams.

It was an honor to part of this author's grand weekend and here are some photos to prove we were there:


L. A. Banks being interviewed


Eric Battle with Madame Isis sword




Photo by Don Lafferty

And The Winner Is...

Portia Adams is the winner of the "Madame Isis" sword! More to come from Philly...

Final Day for Madame Isis Sword Contest

Tonight's the night! At the stroke of midnight, January 31, your the chance to be The Keeper of the Sword will be over.

You can own Damali Richard’s Madame Isis shero sword. The Devil’s Candy Store is holding an essay contest that will be judged by L. A. Banks. The winner will receive the Madame Isis sword created by Hollywood armourer, Tony Swatton (a $6,000 value).

Originally to be offered at auction, this gold-plated, gem-encrusted, one-of-a-kind vampire-killing sword will end up in the hands of the Vampire Huntress Legend most deserving fan. The winner will be presented with the Madame Isis sword on Saturday, February 14, 2009 during the Twelve Tribes Convergence Summit in Philadelphia, PA. (You don't have to present at the 12 Tribes Summit to win.)

Please read the contest rules! Unfortunately, this contest is only open to anyone 21 years of age and older. This is a real sword, forged on an anvil.

L. A. Banks Madame Isis Sword Contest

Damali Richard's Madame Isis Vampire-Killing Sword

You can own Damali Richard’s Madame Isis shero sword. The Devil’s Candy Store is holding an essay contest that will be judged by L. A. Banks. The winner will receive the Madame Isis sword created by Hollywood armourer, Tony Swatton (a $6,000 value).

Originally to be offered at auction, this gold-plated, gem-encrusted, one-of-a-kind vampire-killing sword will end up in the hands of the Vampire Huntress Legend most deserving fan. The winner will be presented with the Madame Isis sword on Saturday, February 14, 2009 during the Twelve Tribes Convergence Summit in Philadelphia, PA.

Here is the contest:
1. Write a one page essay that answers these questions:
a. Which major themes in the Vampire Huntress Legend series resonated with you?
b. Why will you make the best "Keeper of the Sword"?
2. The font size must be no smaller than 12 point.
3. No more than 600 words.
4. Any entry not meeting the criteria will be disqualified.
5. Entries must be by e-mailed to charlie.athanas@thedevilscandystore.com by midnight, January 31, 2009.

Contest Small Print (Please read):
- Applicants must be age 21 or over, as this sword can be considered a weapon.
- All essays will be passed on to L. A. Banks without names attached to allow the best essay to win on it’s own merits.
- Armourer Tony Swatton, The Devil's Candy Store, L.A. Banks are not responsible in any way for any injury sustained in the future by the sword.
- Armourer Tony Swatton, The Devil's Candy Store, L.A. Banks are not responsible for any future repairs of the Madame Isis Sword and/or its case.
- The deadline for receipt of your essay is midnight on January 31, 2009.
- This contest is sponsored by The Devil's Candy Store and in accordance with the wishes of author and creator L.A. Banks.
- Only one entry per person is accepted. - The winner need not be present.
- The prize is as stated and there will be no exchanges of prizes given.
- The Devil's Candy Store, L.A. Banks, and the L.A. Banks Street Team all have the right to post the winning entry and winner's image on any promotional materials, printed material, YouTube, and on all L.A. Banks and The Devil’s Candy Store related forums, blogs and online social networks.
- The winner must sign an image release permitting use of their image on any promotional materials to qualify for receipt of the Madame Isis sword.


Madame Isis Vampire-Killing Sword (detail)

Madame Isis and Baby Isis Update

Well, August has come and gone and we haven't held our Madame Isis auction yet, nor offered our Baby Isis Daggers for pre-order. We apologize for the delay. This is sometimes the fate of handcrafted, one-of-a-kind items. I just received an update from Tony Swatton on the current status of these pieces.

Tony tells me that he just got the Baby Isis dagger hilt back from the foundry last week. He has had that engraved to match the pommel on the large Madame Isis hero sword. Tony is cutting and mounting the stones to it and sending it out to get plated this week.

The end result will be an exquisite Damali Richards' sword that is jewel-encrusted and gold-plated. It will have a unique four blood gutter blade of stainless steel forged on an anvil and etched with inscriptions and symbols to meet the descriptions of L. A. Banks.

I will have detailed photos of the completed sword and it's case once it is shipped to Chicago from Los Angeles. Until then, we have video of Leslie Banks seeing the sword for the first time at the San Diego Comic-Con. The person she keeps referring to is Tony Swatton. After Leslie raves about the sword there are close-ups of it on the video.



Here are some shots of the sword being made:


Madame Isis hilt in wax before casting


Madame Isis hilt cast roughly in bronze


Madame Isis hilt cast in bronze engraved (before stones and gold-plating)


Madame Isis stainless steel blade being forged by Tony

The sword's introduction at the San Diego Comic-Con:


Leslie and Tony and Madame Isis before gold-plating and finishing


Tony discussing Madame Isis with John Howe, production designer for The Lord Of The Rings